For a Working Mom, Time Management Means Doing Less With Her Baby

Dec 3, 2012 2:59 pm ET

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When time is tight, what’s the best way to connect with your new baby?

by Lauren Weber

Life with a new baby is a strange blend of busyness and tedium. During my recent maternity leave, I often woke up in the mornings and thought to myself, “How are we going to get through the next 13 hours?”

The days were a blur, yet time often passed like the slow drip of a broken faucet. My son and I had so much time together, but relatively few ways to fill that time.

A single trip to Target could be stretched into a half-day outing. I saved up recycling so we could make multiple trips to the compactor room down the hall from my apartment. We visited elderly neighbors whose homes I’d never set foot in before.

Now that I’m back at work, my conundrum has been turned upside down. Instead of languorous empty days, I have just two or three hours with my 6-month-old.